You never know whether you will make a good photo or not before you shoot it. Thus to me it only makes sense that you must just shoot a lot; and the more you shoot, the luckier you will get!
I know for me, the biggest problem I personally face in street photography is doubt. Doubt before I click the shutter.
Often I hesitate before clicking, because of the following reasons:
- What if the photo is gonna be boring?
- What if my subject gets angry and aggressive towards me?
The antidote to this “paralysis by analysis” is,
JUST SHOOT IT.
You can always decide later whether to keep or ditch the shot.
Ain’t nothing perfect in real life, and certainly not in street photography. The only way to make good street photos is to take lots of risks. The more you shoot and the larger the risks you take, the more likely you are to have a (very big) payout!
As investors say,
High risk, high reward.
We don’t know what scenes might make good photos, but we certainly know situations and scenarios where taking a photo feels risky.
But this is the thing:
The more risky it is to shoot a scene, the less likely it was already shot before!
And the more risky it is to shoot a scene, the more likely the photo is gonna be dynamic, scary-interesting!
What do you have to lose?
In street photography (and life) it is all upside, no downside.
Worst case scenario you’ll make a bad street photo. Best case scenario you’ll make a beautiful photo you’re proud of.
And also recognize in real life, we can contol the amount of risk we take, but the payoff is often uncertain.
So when in doubt, take the (bigger) risk.
ERIC
